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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Pte. Ross Hamilton and the Dumbells


N.S.Regt.

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Hi

I would like to share another group with you. Lt. Ross Hamilton was born in Pugwash N.S. Canada May 28 1892. He enlisted in the 9th Canadian Field Ambulance on Jan. 24 1916. While in France he joined the Dumbells Canadian third Divisional Concert Party on Aug. 1 1917. Since women were not allowed to join the females were played by men this was the role given to Pte. Hamiliton. Their first show was for the troops after the battle of Hill 70 the 25th battalion was one of the first battalions to see the show. During the war the group became from what I read very popular and even preformed for royality as well as for large crowds in England. After the war they went on to perform on Broadway and did tours of Canada and some of the U.S. they did shows into the 1930s. Lt. Hamiliton saw brief service in WW2 he was stationed in Camp Borden and given a commission. He orginized shows for the troops while he served there and was shortly after discharged for medical reasons.

I picked out a number of things that thought may intrest some people there are a couple of hundred items with the group so I picked out a few. Below his medals and a photo.

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Pte. Hamiliton in action

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newspaper for canadian soldiers

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Programme 1 cover

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programme 1 inside

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programme 2 cover

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programme 2 insde

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programme 3 cover

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programme 3 inside

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programme 4 cover

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programme 4 inside

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telegram sent while boarding R.M.S. Olympic

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some photo from after the war

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add from Broadway show

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some newspaper clippings

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foldout for Canadian show

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foldout inside

Hope you enjoy seeing what was shown.

Best regards

N.S.Regt.

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That must be a fantastic collection you have there NS. Thankyou for sharing it with us. The musical numbers were very up to date, as 'Round the Map', for instance, opened at the Alhambra Leicester Square on 19 July 1917, and 'Yes Uncle' opened at the Prince of Wales's 29 December 1917. The female impersonators (known as FIs, or less politely as the Bints), were the concert party elite, not least because they took most of the budget, time and effort to kit out, and always drew the most attention in performance. Many really played on this, often indulging in a sort of gender transformation, fluttering eyelids and showing a bit of ankle to the leering audience - scandalous!

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Thank you for your reply. I bought the grouping in 1997 at first it did not interest me I thought the price was to much for me and not much into the theater. I did do some research on the Dumbells and realized how important the group was in the theater and military collectors circles. I had bought the collection and within a few weeks I had offers to buy from people out of province this just increased my interest. when bought the paper articles were in a sorry state they were glued into two period magazines which were falling apart and to peices. It took weeks but I removed everything and placed them in a photo album. I hope that someday it may end up in a local museum but that may be a while yet.

Best regards

N.S.Regt.

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